Endings/Beginnings : Slavery/Freedom

I resigned from my job at the park district on October 3rd, and today walked home from the Cottage for the last time. At my previous jobs 2 weeks was sufficient for the employer to find a replacement, but it did not work out this time around. I can understand a major position, such as CEO, taking months to fill, but 12 weeks to fill a clerk job is absurd(ly lucky). If I had been allowed to leave in mid October, I would likely have decided upon a 4 week trip abroad, returned to my apt, and settled in for a long winter of meditation and guitar playing. Instead, the extended wait allowed for a slim chance to become a wandering monk/artist/poet, if I had the vision to see it, and the balls to accept the challenge. Looking upon the task as a general would while planning an offensive, I knew I would need to see both the panorama and the details, all the while remaining calm and serene in the present moment. I came to realize that I had arrived at one of the big moments in my life - a time to put all of the experience and knowledge gained from a lifetime of curiosity, introspection, and study, to use. Much of life is waiting, and more waiting, and it is what one does during this waiting which will determine what happens when the waiting is over. There are so many ways to go wrong, so many things which can destroy a life - evil from without, evil from within, or just bad luck and circumstance. When things are going well it is possible to squander the good fortune from lack of foresight and not taking advantage of all the gifts which one has. Somehow I have avoided stepping on the numerous land mines which life plants, and have merely tripped and fallen a few times on harmless ground, each time picking myself up and continuing on with faith and good intentions. 20 years ago I accepted the challenge of my youth - learning to live life well through the activity of photography and art. The easy part was doing the work, the hard part keeping a happy heart amidst the ill will of others. I learnt that even if I mind my own business, stay quiet, and do no harm, people will still hate and attempt to ruin the happiness of anyone they meet. To pass through the first test I had to learn the task of art and master it, all the while deflecting the hatred and ill will of others. My life was playing out like a good novel - a naive youngster attempting to create a Utopian way of life, but bad characters along the way make it difficult to attain. After 18 years I believed I had completed the task I had chosen for myself, having learned art and the evil in men's hearts. The past two years I have been waiting, and waiting more. How did I spend this waiting? Learning another form of art, the guitar, and reading, studying, contemplating. The reason it is easy for me to leave money jobs is because they are a meaningless waiting activity, or a means (money) to an end (completing the goal, which needs money). I see life as being a hazy sort of dream, a spiritual quest to see more clearly. The money game, and all of its variations, are a part of the dream, but only as a distraction, or perhaps a test to weed out the blind from those who can see. In one sense, I am the blind. In a world filled with blind people, reality is darkness and anyone who claims to see light is hated and mocked, and said to be insane. But inner truth cannot be insulted away, hatred cannot alter it. If I see light and stars, a thousand people saying there are no stars does not make it true. I may feel quite alone, and even question my sanity from time to time, but I never lose sight of the light, and therefore know that it is indeed true. The waiting will soon be over, and the second challenge of my life will begin. Like the first test, I will mind my own business, stay quiet, and do no harm. I will apply what I have learned, and instead of believing that because I am attempting a good thing people will be sympathetic, I will rather expect that some small part of the rage of the world will fall my way.

Let the journey begin.....

Typhoid Mary

Left work early with the late autumn day feeling heavy of winter - blustery gray wetness making me wish for snow. I was able to borrow Rachel's car and drive over to the public health dept. so I could get vaccinations for Typhoid and Hep. A. I got a tetanus vaccination 6 weeks ago, so I believe I have done everything possible to reduce the risk of carrying a nasty illness while in SE Asia. Cost was $190, pretty steep for two shots in the arm, and my shoulder is sore as hell.

Finished reading The Razor's Edge, the ending left me a bit disappointed, but it was still very well written. In my Thailand guidebook Maugham has been mentioned a couple of times, as he loved to travel in SE Asia, I guess one time he caught malaria while in Bangkok, but lived to write another day.

The two girls who want to live in my apt have still not signed the lease - signing day is supposed to be this Thursday, if they don't sign then I will have to look for somebody else, but I still have time to find someone and be out before Jan 1. I still have hope the girls will sign on Thursday, I will think positive thoughts.....

Photography and Writing

With my time in the USA fast approaching its end, I have been spending my days studying books related to travel. I am finishing up The Razor's Edge by Maughm, reading a few books by Hermann Hesse and Knut Hamsun, and perusing maps and guide books.

I sometimes find myself attempting to clarify my vision of travel, and how I should spend my time while on the road. The few short trips I have taken (New York City, Montreal, Paris) revolved around wandering the streets with camera and notebook in hand. Even though I no longer consider photography my calling, I have decided that making pictures of the passing moments and writing about things would impart a pleasant meaning to my new way of life. I have decided that I will bring a small digital camera and laptop computer with me, with plans of wandering by day, and writing and editing pictures by night, with this blog serving as the place to deposit the daily words and pictures.

However hard I try to leave my past life of photography behind, it at times returns and reminds me that it shaped who I am and how I see the world. A few days ago I had a request from a person who owns a few of my photographs. He recently returned from a many years stay in Japan, and he asked if I would print some old b/w negatives that he picked up while there. It will be a big project (40 negatives), with a set of straight b/w prints, and a 2nd set printed in my own style (toned and ethereal). I doubt I can finish the project in time before leaving at the end of January, and I let him know it won't be cheap. If he agrees to my price, the magic of printing will pay for my plane ticket to Thailand.

New Life

Since making the decision to quit my job and leave the country for an extended period of time, my life has regained some of its old magic. There are many ways to view life and what it means to live. The people closest to me in regards to time/experience - my family - see it in a way which I think dull, harmful, and just flat out wrong. I don't think less of them for this, as almost everyone I have met in my life follows some sort of philosophy which is based on materialism/money = security/happiness. Perhaps one is more secure if a job is in hand and money is in the bank. But life is not an endless string of long moments, rather, it is a fragmented base of quick bursts of inspiration and illusion. What brings security and happiness is not money, but the life force itself. It is this which pushed me through the womb, into the light of the world, and it is this which sustains me for as long as it pleases, and it will be that which returns me to the unknown darkness.

The life force which directs our destinies can be corrupted through neglecting what is in the heart. Chasing after money and security leads to an effect unintended - fear and loathing, the magic of life blurred and kicked under ground. I will grant that some men's destinies involve the acquisition of money, in this sense they are doing what they are meant to do. But this is not mine, and so working a meaningless job is not always necessary. Quitting on the surface seems dangerous and foolish, but in doing so I have put my life in the hands of my heart. I may end up in the streets, could die from lack of access to medicine, or have other things go terribly wrong, but having the heart open full stop is worth the trouble. The magic has returned, and with it happiness and mystery.

Irish Whiskey Jam

Returning home from an afternoon walk on Friday, Joseph saw me crossing Vine Street as he passed in his UPD truck. He decided to circle back and he found me on a side street. I opened the truck door and asked what was up, and he asked if I wanted to do a music jam on Saturday. I said yes, and was excited about the opportunity to make music with other people.

I walked to his house Saturday night with a guitar slung to my back, amp in right hand, a 6 pack of Schlitz in the other. I also brought along my ipod so that I could connect it to the amp. If the night started out with just Joseph and I, it would be easier to warm up playing to blues songs. Mike H had yet to arrive when I got to his house, and as I set up my gear I plugged in the ipod and listened to a long, driving song by Junior Kimbrough. Joseph was intrigued, so we started jamming to it. Shawn showed up soon after and he took over on drums and Joseph played bass. Mike M. arrived a little later, and he took over the bass. Mike is a semi professional player, and I find it easy to play along with his bass lines because they are logical and in key at all times. Mike H stopped by a couple hours later, by then we were high on beer and other goodies, and the music was flowing and wild. I played for 6 hours with just a few short breaks, leaving around 3:30am.

I was happy and a bit surprised that my fingers held tough the entire night, no blisters, but the skin was a bit raw by the time it was all over. My skills have increased since the last time I was jamming with them, my knowledge of the pentatonic along with increased finger agility allowed me to feel confident. We played mainly in E, but a few jams we were in G or D. The speed of my playing was improved, and I was able to focus on the music and my reactions to it. The guys seemed happy with my progress, and we laid down some good jams.

I decided to practice today for an hour, which was a mistake because I pushed the raw skin too far and a blister developed on the third finger. Even with this handicap I was still able to play with speed and accuracy to a set of Junior Kimbrough songs.

I have not done much this week for my upcoming travels because I am waiting to hear back from the property manager about the two girls who want to rent my apartment. Hopefully in a day or two they can sign the lease, and I can then begin packing things and prepare myself for the exciting days which will soon be upon me.

Practicing

I decided to record a bit of my practice session last night :

Changing Strings

I broke the B string on my guitar a couple of days ago. When I felt the urge to jam today I remembered the missing string and decided it was time to replace all of the strings. I placed the guitar on the kitchen table, and began my first attempt at it. I thought back to my days as a photographer, spending hours in the public darkroom in Chicago learning how to dry mount pictures, how I wanted to leave no stone unturned in all aspects of photography. The mundane task of changing strings on a guitar is something that will further my skill in the craft of guitar playing, and also save me some cash.

I got the strings tied on well enough, but got a bit confused when they would not stay in tune. I figured out that I needed to tune down and stretch each string with my hands, pulling it way up a number of times, then tune it back to pitch. After doing the string stretch three times for each string, they magically stayed in tune.

I decided to try a heavier string gauge. I had been using the lightest gauge, but it seemed a bit wimpy, and also had me hesitant about strongly attacking the strings with aggressive bends. I don't really notice much of a difference with the heavier grade, so next time I change strings I will be going up another notch, just to see what it sounds and feels like.

I am reaching the point in my guitar quest where I am now familiar with the basics, and the comfort level has brought on a high degree of confidence. I can now just do it, play the blues, without even thinking about it. It is like running, walking, thinking, talking - highly complex activities which the brain/body learns exceedingly well on a subconscious level, so that the conscious mind can forget about it all, in a sense, and just focus on the emotions of playing. I still suck, but I have gone far beyond the suck of two years ago. Lately the speed and coordination between both hands has gotten ridiculously intense. I don't even know how I am doing it, I just watch the fingers on the fret board reach a blurring energetic speed, while the pick hand is trying to keep up. Mistakes abound, yet.....I can see that with more practice I am going to reach a level that I did not think possible. I can't wait!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Having reached a point in the guitar quest where things are now beginning to gel, I am a bit sorry that for a somewhat long period of time I won't have access to my beloved black electric guitar. I have decided to travel long term, making my vocation that of wanderer. I decided to give up my nice apartment and become a homeless vagabond, all of my possessions being what can fit into a back pack. I never thought of myself as being one of those adventurers who gives up everything for the freedom of the road - partially because I never thought I would have the means to do so. It takes a large stash of cash, along with the will and vitality to pull it off. I am currently in possession of those 3 things, so I have decided to try, to see if I can become that which I never thought I could be. I am reminded of something which Elanor Roosevelt once said

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.

Today I showed my apartment to two young ladies, and later in evening they let me know they would like to rent it beginning in January. So in two months I will be moving my belongings into Rachel's basement. I will then stay at her house until January 19th, which is when she will return from her African adventure. I will then board a plane and alight in Bangkok, Thailand. I will soon apply for a travel visa, which will allow me to remain in Thailand for up to 3 months. I will then move on to Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, and then perhaps Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The series of decisions and events which have recently transpired have occurred in consequence to ideas translated into actions. My first experience of the power of a single idea and choice, was that of becoming a photographer and artist. Once the decision is made, the pieces fall into place. The difficult part is making the decision, without it, one floats through life on the thoughts and ideas of others. While this can be pleasantly numbing, it does not lead to creativity or authentic being.

11/11/11 ?

With my time at work coming to a close, I have been more attentive to the planning of my wanderings. I will remain at my position at the park district until a new person is hired and trained, so I will be working Mon-Wed for the next 4-5 weeks. My original plan of leaving on 11/11/11 came surprisingly close.

The world has once again become a wide open place, open to varied interpretations and realities. The money I have saved would seem small for most, but being able to live comfortably on $1000 a month means I can live as if independently wealthy for 18 months before having to return to wage slavery. I plan to use some of the money to travel to Thailand, but I am still determining how long I want to stay, and if I should extend my journey to other places. The plan which looks most secure is to wander Thailand for 4-6 weeks and then return to my apartment in Urbana. Once back I plan to spend my time practicing guitar 4 hours a day, meditating 2 hours, and walking/running/writing/thinking/sleeping with the remaining time left in the day. By the end of a year I could possibly be a better guitar player with a calmer heart. Time will tell.

Buying Time

Today I resigned from my job.

Two weeks ago I requested to work 3 days per week, reducing my hours from 40 to 24. This was accepted. I then requested a 4 week unpaid leave of absence so that I could wander around Thailand during the month of November. This was not accepted. Before asking these two things I decided that if either were rejected I would resign, and today I followed through on that decision.

Quitting a decent job with no negative aspects would appear to be stupidity, or worse. And although I could find no logical reasons for quitting, I did it anyway. What is life but a continual preparation for death? Death is leaving a known space and time. Sleep reminds us of this, but a conscious altering of circumstance done under a warm, shining sun is more potent. By doing so I reaffirmed my faith in the power of life. Walking home I felt powerful, free, and strong-willed. In a years time I may find myself living on the streets, or worse, in my parent's home. It is all the same, though - I will breathe, sense, think. I won't have any money, but in a way I don't have any now. I save everything I earn, only spending on food and shelter. The money saved will now be spent - on a year's worth of glorious time.

The Man Who is not There

Almost a month has passed since my last entry, and the progress I have made with the guitar is startling. My main mode of practice this month has been jamming to sets. The sets include songs such as Spoonful, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, Graveyard Train, Blues Boogie by Canned Heat, a few Nick Moss songs, jams by Phish, even Led Zep's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and the powerful Communication Breakdown. A set usually lasts 90-120 minutes, and sometimes I do a second set or sit down to practice finger exercises. The long sets have made my left hand fingers longer, because the callouses on the tips have grown absurdly thick, wiping away the print lines of the fingers and replacing them with funky ridges and holes. I am no longer hindered by finger weakness, which allows me to practice indefinitely if I feel like it. Standing up for 2 hours with a guitar strapped on has caused my left shoulder to be perpetually sore, though.

Playing the same songs every day for months leads to comfort and familiarity, which then leads to insights coming into focus. The pentatonic scale has become a familiar alphabet of sound, and I am writing sentences and paragraphs with more confidence and ease. Discovery of note patterns is frequent and my fingers can quickly adapt to the necessary positions and movements. I can now switch from lead to rhythm fairly quickly, and I have more chords at my disposal. Picking motion and accuracy is also better.

Normally I play everyday, but sometimes I take a day off and upon returning my body and mind have moved forward and the sessions are thus more crisp and inspired.

It seems fairly recent that I replaced the strings on the guitar. I don't know how to do it myself so I bring it to the local shop where I bought it. The charge for strings and labor is $26. The first time I got new strings they lasted 6 months. When I tested them they sounded clear and pleasing, and I thus realized the importance of fresh strings for a solid tone and feel. A few days ago I was jamming to Communication Breakdown and the high E string broke. I hopped on my bike and brought the guitar to the shop before they closed at 6:00. The clerk decided to be nice and he strung the E for me, showing me how to do it. It is easier than I thought, so I can now skip the $20 labor charge and just buy strings and replace them myself. I have 4 or 5 packages which I bought on Amazon using credit card bonus points, so I am set for a few months.

I would like to take the sessions to the next level and begin practicing 4-5 hours a day. The progress will be quicker and more satisfying, and I will have reached a level of dedication required for mastery. But, working 8 hours a day makes it difficult, and my sleeping patterns have been awful lately, getting only 4-5 hours a night due to sucking too much out of life on any given day. Working 4 hours a day allowed me to work at things for 4-6 hours and still get 8 hours of sleep per night. I drag my ass around the office feeling like a zombie, and I have resorted to taking a 30 minute nap in the basement break room during my lunch to make it through the day. Some days it feels like running an ultra marathon, I reach such lows that I just want to walk out and never come back, but then I take a nap and feel much better. The awful feelings are related to sleep deprivation, which is my own fault.

As I write this it is 11:00pm and I should have been in bed 2 hours ago, instead I am willfully heading to another 5 hour night of sleep, which will make for a miserable Monday. I keep telling myself only 2 more months until I quit, but sometimes I wonder if I can make it. Working 8 hours sitting in one place is torture, and I am looking forward to the day when it is all over, a tiresome dream coming to an end. My savings have steadily gone up, so I will soon be able to have unlimited time for my own work for at least a year.

Blue Jay

Joseph was supposed to call me over the weekend to set up a time for Sunday, but never did, so the Peach Jam has yet to happen. I had a great weekend of practice, however, and I studied the three songs in more depth. I had three sessions on Sunday, the last one where I sit with the guitar and get creative, seeing what, if anything, happens.

All of the improvising to songs has made my fingers stronger and more relaxed, and this led to a great creative session, I was doing things which surprised me, creating rhythms and melodies that would not be possible without the newly acquired finger skills. I was also able to flesh out a newly created song using my new knowledge of finding chords within the key pattern. Prior to this I could hear the song in my head, but had no idea where to find the chords or notes to finish it off, but last night I was able to add in the extra parts which made the song fuller and richer.

The progress right now is flowing and this leads to an excitement for practicing longer hours with more concentration. Now that I have the basic building stones in place, things are unfolding with more rapidity and ease. I have my mind set on learning the many chords contained within each key, which will allow me to expand the rhythms during improvisation and also aid in song creation.

I came across a blues singer named Screamin' Jay Hawkins while researching the song I Put a Spell on You, and was inspired by his original style and vocal ability. He reminds me of Bukowski.

Peach Jam

The past two weeks of guitar practice have brought more progress. My calloused fingers are now strong enough to allow 2-3 hour sets, and if I take a break I can come back for another shortened set. The extended practice times are the main reason for the progress, but also the excitement of becoming better sets my mind to concentrate intently, knowing that each day may possibly bring new insights and physical skills.

I continue to compare learning guitar to learning how to read and write. The first year I needed to learn scales (alphabet), sounds of the notes (letters), how to hold a pick (pencil), how to strike the strings (writing). It took years of schooling to learn reading/writing, and so I expect the path of guitar to be a long journey as well. However, having gained a lifetime of insights into the art learning and practicing, things should go a bit faster because I can avoid some of the mental pitfalls which can plague a young and inexperienced mind. As a teen it was easy to fall prey to the propaganda of teachers, television and newspapers, but I now know what types of thoughts lead to stagnation and confusion - thoughts of fame and wealth, or any goal other than trying my best to learn and love, are folly and will lead to quitting the activity when those things don't happen (they won't happen for 99.99% of the world's population). All I have to do is love the practice, love the journey, and not have any preconceived ideas of where I should end up. Each day of practice is an end in itself, and although I have my eye to improvement, the practice is not a guarantee of it.

Tomorrow will be the 3rd jam session of the year - Peach Jam. I suggested to Joseph that we should start the jam with an idea of sets because in previous jams we just played whatever came into our heads and some of the time it was difficult to remain in harmony with each other. To overcome this confusion it might be better to discuss before each song/jam what key we will be in and what the dominant chords are. If someone gets lost (me) it would then be easy to get back into line by returning to the key chords and notes. I also suggested three songs for the Peach Jam, something which will bind us together, but also allow us to follow our imaginations when improvising. The songs are Graveyard Train and Heard it Through the Grapevine by CCR, and a version of Down by the River by Phish and Neil Young. I have been playing my best to Heard it Through the Grapevine, and lately I have learned how to fuse both rhythm and lead, and while doing both is not difficult, it requires a set of skills which I did not possess until only recently.

I will now break down the skills needed to play Heard it Through the Grapevine. Doing so will allow me to recall the progression of learning which brought me to this point. Someone just starting out would be thrilled to be able to play along to this song, but have no idea how to, or what it takes to get there.

Achieving a level of comfort in the basic skills - holding a pick; hitting the strings with accuracy and precision; being able to play while standing up; knowledge of keys and chords; knowledge of the 5 positions of the pentatonic scale and being able to play it across the fret board, in any key; bending strings; vibrato; strumming (for rhythm).

Each of the above skills takes weeks/months/years of practice to achieve the comfort needed in order to not think about the skill while playing the music. The skill should be an automatic response of the body and mind - no thought required, but much concentration upon the music and what the body is doing - a fine line!

A beginning student has to endure and keep the faith that all of the practice is leading to somewhere good. I can recall the difficult first months of the journey, when simply holding a pick required much thought and analysis. Hitting the strings with the pick was not easy, I would constantly hit the wrong string, or hit it too hard and deep, which then stopped the pick, making the next note difficult to get to. This too required thought and analysis. All of the thinking meant that no music could be made because the mind was trying to figure out how to achieve the skills needed to make music. Not being able to make music required faith that one day in the distant future I could perhaps figure it all out.

The pentatonic scale seems fairly simple at first glance - 5 notes, 5 patterns, yet it took me 20 months to get somewhat comfortable with it, and I am still far from having it down cold. Yet I have reached the point where I can move around the board with relative ease, being able to play all notes on all strings, which now makes playing blues/rock music a possibility. I have a long ways to go with this scale, but now that I am practicing 2-3 hours a day I become stronger with it each time I pick up the guitar.

Playing standing up and sitting down are vastly different. I chose to sit down when first learning because it seemed easier on the body. After months of practice I tried playing standing up and within 5 minutes strained my foot and neck, and it was more difficult getting the hands into certain positions. By this time Joseph was asking when I was coming over to jam and I had to laugh at myself because I could not see how it was possible to jam if I could not stand up and play for more than 5 minutes. I therefore told Joseph I was still months away from jamming. I knew I had to build up the physical strength, and I had learned from running that a little bit each day adds up quickly. I therefore played a few minutes every other day standing up, and after a few months was able to practice for 30 minutes without much discomfort. The first jam in the spring I was still uncomfortable playing while standing up, but I threw myself into the fire and was able to jam for 2 1/2 hours. I had trouble playing bar chords and just about everything else, so after that jam I worked everyday playing standing up. For the past few months it has become my preferred method of playing while jamming to music due to its expressiveness. For finger exercises I still prefer sitting down because expression is not needed.

The past month my ability to play along with music has improved. I am able to find the main bass riff within a few minutes. Having the bass riff is important because I can return to it when I want to pause the lead notes. I have also intuitively learned how to find chords to songs. By knowing the key, and therefore the notes of the 5 patterns, my fingers press down on 2 or 3 notes which are close together on the board, and strumming these notes makes a nice sounding rhythm. When I later look up the chords on a tab website I find that the notes I played were the correct ones after all. Using Heard it Through the Grapevine as an example, I found that strumming the key notes near the low frets (frets 1-4) sounded good. I realized I was playing the shape of the D minor chord, and a partial F chord. When I later looked up the tabs for the song I found that D minor and A7 were the main chords, and the A7 fell into the F chord pattern I was using. The ability to find chords on the fly from knowing the notes of the scale makes improvising easier and less mechanical. Instead of thinking that I must play D minor and A7 in a certain order, with correct fingering, I now know that it is fine to create chords based on sound and feel - perhaps this is the basis of improvisation and music making?

Thinking of the above analysis and the path of my guitar journey, for the first time I am feeling a kind of power in what I am doing - I know I have a chance (a slim one) of releasing the music which is inside of me, and this makes me practice even harder, for longer periods of time - now it gets fun!

Blueberry Jam

The Blueberry Jam last night was fun, and while it was not as eye opening as the first one, I did discover new things to work on. I perceived that I am at the point where confidence in my play is becoming visible. When I was setting up I was not shy to work with the amp settings to find a good balance between sustain and distortion, but Joseph's amp appeared limited and I had the impression it was a bass amp because the low notes were strong and vibrant while the higher ones were one sided and bland. The fact that I was able to discern this exhibited that my technical knowledge is expanding bit by bit.

The first 15 minutes it was Joseph on drums and me with guitar. The sound was not decent because of the sparseness of instrumentation and me not knowing how to work the amp to my advantage. Jeff Z from 901 showed up and he turns out to be a master drummer, so Joseph played bass and we blasted through a short, powerful set. After Jeff left Mike H from the indoor pool appeared and Joseph went back to drums and Mike and I played guitar. Mike's specialty is rhythm so I got to play a lot of lead. We were able to find a few good reggae/funk beats (at one point I asked Joseph what kind of music we were playing and answered my own question by guessing "it's like a fusion blues/jazz/funk", which amused Joseph, because he teasingly referred to it later in the session) and we had a sweet jam. After finishing one set Mike said "dude, you play better lead than me, and I've been playing since high school." I did not know how to reply, but I knew I was playing better than the springtime jam and I felt more at ease.

Things which I improved on since the first jam in the spring :

- faster finger movements and better coordination, agility, and stretch
- stronger memory and knowledge of the pentatonic scale
- smoother chord transitions and strumming
- improved endurance

The thing which surprised me most was my ability to play for two hours without break. I was disappointed that Joseph and Mike currently do not have the stamina to play for long stretches of time. Joseph took a number of breaks, and Mike at one point said "I gotta work on my chops, I can't keep up". This tells me that although both are good musicians, they don't practice very often, and there is a chance if I continue to practice daily that my skills will eventually reach their level, and perhaps beyond.

Another thing I noticed is that while I am uncomfortable standing around with nothing to do but listen and talk, I find a beautiful groove once the music begins, communicating with the others through the sounds of guitar and drums. During breaks I therefore choose to continue playing guitar while the others leave the room to drink or smoke. When Joseph returned from one break he commented that my hands must be glued to the guitar. This inability to feel at ease with others when there is no activity to share means I won't become close friends with any of these people, but if they can tolerate my lack of social grace I hope to still play music with them on occasion.

Lastly, it all comes down to practice, desire, and concentration, three things which I have been working on for many years in various activities. The progress I am now making is startling and lucky, but the luck was made possible through all the work put in during the past 18 months - carpe diem!

Bass

Laura Lee & Louise

I was planning to take the day off from guitar because tomorrow is jam #2 (Blueberry Jam) at Joseph's house, but the old saying "strike while the iron is hot" is applicable, so in the morning I practiced a bit with the bass guitar, and then switched over to the strat (I bought a new bass guitar and amp yesterday!).

I don't know if I wrote about this already, but about a month ago I was working on vibrato while watching a movie and I discovered a wrist action/motion which created a sweet vibrato sound. It goes against established mechanics of vibrato in that I move my wrist up and down rather than left to right, but it works and is very easy to do. It requires a light touch and a small movement of the finger. Prior to discovering this I had been pressing the finger down too hard, and the wrist movement was too exaggerated because I was trying to imitate the correct procedure. I remember writing an entry about forgetting about book technique and searching for the correct sound rather than the right mechanics. This idea brought about my new vibrato and I am proud to say that it is my own invention.

Having obtained the beginnings of a vibrato, the next thing I need to work on is sliding the fingers to notes two or more frets up or down the board. I am beginning to find the correct mechanics and this should not be as difficult as vibrato, it just needs a lot of practice to cement the muscle memory of the distances. So I worked on that today while jamming in the late morning (an unusual time for me to practice).

Later in the day as the sun was going down I could not resist picking the guitar up and playing some more, this time to Canned Heat's second album. This was my first long double practice session, and I think there will be more now that I am making progress and things are starting to sound good. My fingers held up nicely, 3 hours of playing and no soreness or blisters. I played to a few new songs, one being a Nick Moss version of Howling Wolf's Louise. The main bass line is hypnotic, and I surprisingly found the 8 note line rather quickly. I played the bass line and then made a quick transistion to playing lead - fun! I will post the live version I was playing along too, Nick Moss is amazing!

Lastly, I felt the need to name my guitar, and decided upon Laura Lee...

Spoonful

The musician seeks to let the music play the music, but he must practice a long time before that can happen.

- quote tacked to the cork board in my music room

I have not mentioned my guitar practice lately, but I have been practicing daily. Things are starting to heat up, get interesting.

Learning guitar, or anything, is foremost an art. I don't have the ability to sit in a class or in front of a teacher and feel comfortable with what they are imparting. Books are good, but in a physical activity, such as golf or guitar, just moving into it, getting the feel of the stick in hand, swinging over and over, is the crux of the process. The reason why learning an activity is an art is because during practice the analytic mind becomes observer, making notes, and remains silent. Some people possess a scientific mind in which the analysis kicks in during the process, but I am glad I am not one of them - a silent mind is my best friend.

If the analytic mind is silent, how do I learn? Although the silent mind appears deaf and dumb, I believe it is dancing relentlessly to the beat of the will. How else to explain the consistent progress and moving forward in my guitar quest?

For the past 5-6 weeks my main mode of practice switched from sitting in a chair, banging out the Jamie Andreas walking exercise, to a standing one man jam. An hour before the sun sets I feel the pull of the guitar, so I pick it up, open the music folder on the computer, and play along to Canned Heat's first album, minus one song. After finishing the last song from the album I move to Phish's Backwards Down the Number Line. I then select one or two Cream songs, and ready myself for the finale - turning the volume way up and jamming to the 16 minute live version of Spoonful. I am connected to that song for a reason which eludes me, but one of the first things I recognized on the guitar during my first month of the quest was the two note switch back of Spoonful. I did not know it at the time but it would become one of the things which propelled me forward in the quest.

When I began the jamming practice method six weeks ago I was a bit shaky, feeling uneasy with how the guitar felt while standing. But with daily practice (60-90 minutes), my fingers toughened up further and standing began to feel more expressive than sitting. When bending a note my body bends with the string, when doing a fast note progression my eyes close and I get lost in the valley of sound which surrounds me in the darkness. Last week a desert like heat descended upon central Illinois and it was too hot to play in the late afternoon, so I took three days off. I felt uneasy during the absence and knew that I had become addicted to the beautiful sound expression reflected in the mood of a day just lived through. When the heat broke last Sunday I picked up the guitar and noticed a leap in ability and skill - note runs were cleaner and faster, the fingers were stronger, more agile and accurate. The three day layoff allowed the silent, analytic mind to work its magic, without any interference from the conscious self. The art of learning guitar was in bloom on that magical Sunday evening.

Today I experienced a BIG jump - jamming to the usual song list, I was comprehending with more precision and a fuller memory the pentatonic scale along the length of the fret board. During the past six weeks I have noticed a slow and steady increase in comfort with the notes in the scale, and today it felt almost effortless, the fingers moving up and down, back and forth, with little conscious thought, allowing the mind to concentrate upon the emotions and sounds - the meaning of the music - rather than the mechanics needed to achieve the desired sound. Added to this was another increase in speed and accuracy, along with the right hand pick gliding to the strings with greater precision. The music which emanated thus sounded confident, less abrupt and choppy. During the final song, Spoonful, I created a driving avalanche of sound which made me wonder how it all came about.

I have the sensation that I have reached the point of no return - the guitar has become a part of my experience, an extension of my life. It is looked upon with affection and love, and I trust that it will open to me a small part of its beauty and mystery each time I hold it in my caring hands.

?

After studying various details of traveling in Thailand, I was disappointed that I have no acceptable reason for extending my visa by more than 30 days. Student? Business? Visiting family? All no, so that leaves me with the tourist visa, which is 30 days. After the 30 day period I am required to leave the country for a day, and upon returning can get a 15 day extension stamp. The border runs can supposedly be repeated indefinitely, but the cost and long journey would soon become a burden once the novelty waned.

Flying into Thailand is not as simple as I thought it would be. I did not know that most countries will not allow someone to arrive with a one way ticket. Since I do not know when I am to leave Thailand, or by what method (train, bus, plane, boat, foot), I do not want to tie myself to a date and place of departure. A round trip ticket, which is required for entry, is not something which will promote wandering and a sense of timelessness. The cost of the ticket, ~$1200, is also more than I would like to pay, especially since flying to Costa Rica costs ~$450.

Since Thailand does not want tourists staying longer than 30 days, I have decided that it does not fit my main purpose - to live freely for the longest amount of time. The cost of border runs would deplete my savings faster than if I stayed at home.

I then studied details of travel in Costa Rica, and found things a bit more encouraging - a 90 day visa and cheap airfare had Thailand beat. However, the cost of living in Costa Rica is almost equal to that of living in the USA, so what then is the point of leaving the USA? I realize leaving my comfort zone and learning Spanish and immersing myself in a new culture can lead to immense growth, but growth in what area? One of the reasons I want to visit Thailand is to learn about their Buddhist culture. I don't know anything about the religious culture in Costa Rica, but my initial guess is that the Buddhist tradition there is not as strong as in the Far East.

It is now time to step backwards and reflect anew, starting once again the process of planning a new direction in my life. Having a nice apartment in a nice town has me considering that my best plan of action is no action. If my amount of leisure time can be maximized by remaining in Urbana, then not leaving may be the best choice. But my inner guide is restless and wants to strike out and explore something new.

To stay or to go.....

?

Wandering

After making the decision to resign from my job on 11/11/11, the next step was to decide upon a destination. I have no great desire to be anywhere in particular, so I wrote down the things which were important to me. Inexpensive, warm, somewhat safe and clean, were things which came to mind. That knocked out half of the world and I was left with the continents in the tropics. It came down to Central/South America and SE Asia. Once I made a choice the ball would begin to roll, so I picked Thailand as my initial point of arrival.

The next step in planning is to acquire knowledge of the country, its laws, culture, popular towns and areas. I also need to plan the logistics of the trip. Airline tickets, visas, what type of backpack to bring, what to put into the backpack, how to manage the initial 30 day period, border runs, departures to other countries. It is a bit overwhelming.

I will make an outline of the things which need to be studied and decided upon, and then work down the list, taking my time. I imagine it is a bit like planning a battle in a large scale war -something misunderstood, or entirely missed, could bring defeat.

11:11

I was walking through the park last week and in a moment of clarity decided to choose November 11 as the date of my departure. While leaving before the arrival of winter is pleasant to ponder, the mystical 11:11 is what drew me to that month and day. Since childhood, whenever I have seen 11:11 (mainly on digital clocks) my mind becomes reflective and somewhat shaken - the number acts as a trigger for a memory of something which has not yet happened.

Having chosen the date, the next task is deciding upon the initial place of arrival. I have a world map laid out on the kitchen drawing table, and every day I study it, hoping for an insight or inspiration which will lead me to the correct and logical choice. With four months remaining I appear to be on schedule for making an important change in my surroundings and circumstances.

At times I have the idea to stay put and believe that the odd desire to leave all that I know is an effect of a restless mind. But this sentiment is soon overruled by a strong emotion which I recognize as my inner compass. It is this voice which has led me to the place where I now sit, and the important choices which I have made in the past have followed it faithfully. Long ago I decided that I would follow this voice over all others, and if it brought me to ruin so be it. One of the main purposes of my life is to use it to test ideas of spirit and integrity. Money, career, stability, things which seem on the surface to be good and worthy, are trappings which destroy that purpose, the reason being that to obtain these things I would need to do work which is dead to my heart - when the heart is dead, the voice is silent.

My guitar quest is moving steadily along. The past few weeks there has been more improvement, along with new ideas and practice methods. Since implementing the idea to forgo vibrato book technique, and learn it instead through trial and error, I have been liking the direction, and made a breakthrough a few days ago. My stamina and finger strength now allow me to practice for longer periods and I am using this new found endurance to play along to live Cream songs which last from 12-16 minutes each. Jamming to Spoonful for 16 minutes is an incredible experience, I follow the bass and drums as if the band were in my living room, using the rhythms to create improvisational leads. I can have long runs where everything flows smoothly before the finger patterns break down. I have also been playing to Canned Heat's first album. I have reached a point where I can create notes which sound like the blues, but I am still a number of years away from achieving the level I would like to be at - with each passing session the confidence that I will reach this higher level grows stronger.

D-Day

I have been living on my own for the past six months, and during that time I have taken the time to reflect upon the future course of my life's journey. I was hoping by this time to have a somewhat firm idea of it, but thus far it still appears shrouded in a gray fogginess. At times I can glance the main lines and colors, but am blind to the details.

I am not too surprised by my indecisiveness because in the past I have had some lengthy waits before things became clear enough for me to choose a destination and plan of how to arrive there. I trust my intuition and inner compass, but sometimes my will has to be prodded if the circumstances are not dire. I enjoy routine and being intimate with a place, so it is difficult to slash the familiar and comfortable and replace it with the risk of the unknown. Perhaps if humans lived 200 years I wouldn't mind staying the course in Urbana for a while, but I don't have many years left, and so am constantly pondering what I would like to do.

Being in a transition phase of my life, I have been noticing that it is easy to forget all of the good things which I have accomplished in past years due to my being finished with them - enduring the hardships of manual labor in my teens and early 20's; learning to write from the heart while in college; finding my calling (photography), and making a solemn decision to work my ass off for 10 years to see what comes of it, and then extending the work until year 18; last year deciding to study guitar, with a focus being upon the learning process. On days when I am wandering around town, or lazing in bed observing the late afternoon sun paint the room in glowing yellows and pinks, I get the sense that I have done very little, but the memories of the past slowly sink into my vision and I breathe a little easier.

Today while at work I had an idea which may push my will into action concerning the style and content of my remaining days. I scribbled on a yellow post it - "set an expiration date to my life, as if I had been given the exact date of my final day on earth." Since I do not know the time and day that senor death will arrive upon the scene, I tend to forget that he is lurking out there somewhere, that his eventual arrival cannot be avoided, and this lapse of remembrance puts my sense of danger to sleep. By writing down a chosen date for senor death's arrival, I am hoping that my sense of ease will be shaken, thus inspiring my mind and will to become more courageous and imaginative. There are so many different ways to live, and having found one which is warm and comforting does not mean others just as meaningful and pleasant do not exist.

Later in the day I began thinking of Winston Churchill, and his six volume history of WWII. The sense of urgency and danger which the Germans heaped upon the English, while difficult and terrifying, allowed the English to experience "their finest hour". In the later stages of war, the American/British military knew the only way to defeat Germany was to invade the soil of Europe. Decisive action was needed, and to achieve this goal detailed planning went on for over a year. The study of maps, battle strategy and tactics, the organization of men and material, was necessary in order for the invasion to take place. Inspiration alone would not lead to success.

With Senor Death playing the part of Nazi, I must set to work on choosing a destination, studying maps, planning the tactics and strategies of the wanderer, and finally, setting the date : D-Day.

Long

I sit before you,

the beauty I lusted for

no longer reflected against my eyes.

We hold each others gaze

for a long while,

reconciling time,

but no matter how I add the moments

they don't equal the empty death

which now bows before me.

You take it so well,

being still,

your faded yellows and

dried lines

out of tune with the

rotation of the sun.

I'd like to believe that my time

and yours,

are not of the same color and type -

that what you sense and remember is

just as rich and eventful....

and long -

with some ancient thing,

sitting still

beneath a flurry of stars,

believing the same of me.

I See the Buddha, The Buddha Sees Me....

Stone

Stone

Opening my eyes

I see a stem, two yellow flowers, and a red spider

which is small -

so small it fits

through the eye of a golden needle.

The red spider hops, glides

across the sensuous, curving petals,

and stops upon a

line of fur,

which is smooth as moss.

It darts off,

always on the move,

looking for food, a friend,

or something.

The flower is still and empty,

a universe of color and warmth

bundled tightly in its silken folds,

with death held back

for at least a moment more.

My eyes darken and

turning upon themselves

an open hand meets the dreamy gaze,

a bird upon a stone.

Desire

Connection

The More I Learn, The Less I Know

Walking to Work, Spring

Thinking about the continued progress I am making with guitar has inspired me to reflect upon the learning process. As I have previously written, one of the things which interest me about guitar is its foreignness and complexity - not having any prior knowledge or experience with it or music makes it a perfect activity for gaining knowledge of my own personal learning process.

At the current point of my development a picture of the steps required when beginning the guitar is coming into focus. I see that I was making progress during the difficult beginning months, but was blinded to most of it because I was unable to make pleasing sounds. One thing which intrigues me about the guitar is a person of average intelligence has to work hard for an extended period of time before anything resembling music can be created - it is a test of patience, will, and desire. When I see/hear an accomplished guitarist I have a high regard for their accomplishment because I have a sense of the trials they went through. An exception to this is the prodigy who displays unusual focus and clarity, unraveling complex problems quickly and with great insight. While I admire this quality, knowing the prodigy did not endure the hardships of the average person means that I look upon their achievement as something done by a power higher than human.

One of the qualities of my mind is its ability to break down a complex activity into simple steps. While it cannot do this quickly, with continued practice and reflection it gets ever closer to the goal. I have learned during this journey that it is better to work out technical/mechanical problems on my own. Reading an article about vibrato does not do me much good because the description of how to do it may make logical sense, but without practice it means nothing. Even the steps and insights provided are for the most part useless because each person's mind/body is unique. While there may be similarities in vibrato technique for all good players, I believe that each of those players went about it in their own way before ending up in the same place.

Rather than reading about vibrato, what I need to do is hear the sound of the vibrato in my head, and then try to recreate it with the guitar. When I finally am able to achieve the sound, the technique will have been established.

Breakthrough

Spring Visits a Parking Lot

During the week when I pick up the guitar I focus upon the mechanical aspects of playing. Repetitive finger movements dominate a session - the ladder, chromatic scale, pentatonic scale, bending, vibrato, chords and sliding bar chords. Sometimes I will play along to a jam track to learn rhythm. When Sunday arrives I wait for the sun to descend into the trees, the sky becoming pink/orange/red/silver - it is then that I feel the need to focus upon my emotions, allowing the state of my spirit to dictate what kind of music I will create with the guitar.

Yesterday when I began to play there were extended moments when the mechanics were forgotten, allowing me to concentrate upon the sounds flowing into the room. My fingers became tiny birds weaving into a complicated pattern of tree shapes - any hesitation or doubt resulting in disgrace - I therefore left doubt behind and became one with the guitar. It was the first time I created music which reflected the white burn living inside my heart, and this led to a few beautiful moments when the body shivers with recognition upon hearing the truth.

Today is balmy and summer like, the sun going low into the green roundness of things - repetition, repetition, repetition....

Sunday

Morning Walk, Spring

Sunday

A small room eaten slowly by the night -

piece by piece dissolving

until the only thing left

is sleep.

Spring Dream

On my walks to work I have been carrying the camera, the days have been a mixture of seasons, so many peculiar things to see....

Scissors

Scissors

I went to the library yesterday and got a few Lonely Planet travel guides for various places around the globe which seem interesting, and perhaps cheaper than the USA - Belize, Guatemala, Laos, Sri Lanka, Panama. In Chicago I worked with a guy named Mo from Sri Lanka who had just graduated from the Art Institute. One time on break we walked up to the 8th floor storage area and found a few original art pieces by famous artists such as Ed Paschke and Diane Arbus. Mo was unimpressed, and we discussed what makes a good piece of art. I happened to have my camera with me and snapped a picture of him smoking a cigarette.

Mo eventually returned to Sri Lanka and is now an internationally famous artist. I recall him telling me that I should go to Sri Lanka because it is more beautiful than the USA. If I do consider living in Sri Lanka for an extended period I should perhaps contact Mo and ask him for suggestions on where to live and if he knows of any cheap apartments for rent. Having at least one contact in a foreign country would be helpful.

Mo on the 8th Floor

Future Plans

With my lease soon coming to an end, I need to decide if I want to remain in Urbana. I have various thoughts and desires about living elsewhere, but having ended my marriage and moved into an apartment only four months ago, I feel it is best that I remain in the apartment until next July. Part of the reason is because in just a few days I will be returning to the 40 hour work week. This depresses the hell out of me, as I have enjoyed working 20 hours a week for the past four years. In January I began working 30 hours a week, which isn't too bad because I work from 6:00am-noon, or 7:00-1:00, depending on when I wake up in the morning. My eight hour schedule will be 6:00-2:30 (a 30 minute lunch is required by law), which is as good as it gets for an eight hour day. The thing that will drag me down is working in the same place eight hours a day, day after day after day. I know I will get the old feelings of restlessness, fatigue, and the nauseous thought of "anyplace but here".

The positive side is I will be making enough money to save $500 a month, so that by the time my lease is up I should have an extra $6000-7000 in the bank (barring an unexpected medical emergency). That thought alone should give me the energy to wake up in the mornings and slog another dreary day in the office. With my current savings at $10,000, and with Rachel owing me $9700 for my portion of the house, that puts me at $26,000. When I quit my job I will have $7000-8000 being added to my savings, which puts me around $33,000. To be safe I can round down and expect to have $30,000 in my savings by next July. Living in the midwest USA I can survive comfortably (with no car) for $1000 per month, giving me 2 1/2 years of freedom from having to work for others.

Considering that the USA is a relatively expensive place to live, what if I could find a place somewhere in the world where I could live comfortably for $500 a month? I would then have unlimited freedom and solitude for 5 years. By the end of the 5 years I will be 50 years old, and most likely old enough to no longer care about jobs and careers, etc, or maybe I will no longer be alive, thus cheating a future employer of cheap labor.

I am reminded of the Hermann Hesse story Klein and Wagner, where Klein, a civil servant, aged 40, robs his employer and rides a train south to Italy. He falls in love with a young woman, has a few adventures, and then drowns himself. Another story, whose name and author escape me, is of a man who quits his job and moves to a cheap foreign land which is pleasing and artful. A few years later the man's savings are depleted and he goes insane and dies. These stories give me pause in my desire to move out of the country and live off of my savings...

We're Going Wrong & the Big Dream in the Sky

Yesterday I made more progress with the guitar. I have been listening to a lot of Cream songs and put We're Going Wrong on repeat and riffed to it for 40 minutes. My picking speed and accuracy was better than usual, and I gained some depth in my knowledge of the pentatonic scale. I discovered that I can add a non-pent note when riffing to certain songs, such as We're Going Wrong, and it totally fits, kind of like the blue note, but with a different feel. I forgot to check what the note was, so I just now walked over to the guitar and picked it up, but forgot which two strings I was moving into when using it. I am starting to find my own style with vibrato, I have trouble turning my wrist back and forth, so have assimilated my classical vibrato with a bit of the turn, it sounds pretty good. I am sure a guitar teacher would disapprove, but it works for now.

Now that I am moving slowly toward my goal of playing the blues, I find I am practicing longer and harder, seeing that it may just be possible to get to where I want to be. I have set a high standard for myself, as I want to be able to express the music inside of me, which will require the skill of an Eric Clapton or Buddy Guy - it's fun to dream....

I brought my digital camera on my morning walk today :

Morning Walk I

Morning Walk II

Morning Walk III

Morning Walk IV

Sophia Sleeps

Detail #1

Detail #2

Somewhere

Somewhere, looking up,

beyond the night mist,

is a brightness

waiting patiently

for me to lose my grip.

Within me are golden memories,

each one more precious than the last,

but an ache swims through and across me,

searching for one which is lost.

Somewhere, I know,

you are waiting for me,

your infinite beauty

beyond the sight of the ashen faces

on the great, green earth.

I know you are there,

your moist breath

spinning the world,

awaiting the grasp of my closing eyes.

Gray Spring

Gray spring

wind dripping,

at rest upon an empty street.

Heavy time

pregnant with hope,

creeping through wet grass,

a red tulip bending low.

A thousand creatures

move to and fro

readying for emergence,

my lonely room awaits the knock.

Tipping Point

Spring Morning

Last night I practiced guitar for a couple of hours. My normal practice routine is to start with slow finger movements, such as the "walking" exercise set out in the Andreas Principles book. This exercise is the crux of my current practice routine. Once learned, the student has a set of finger skills which can be used for playing any style of music. However, it is not an easy thing to master, as I have been working with it for 6 months and am still far from obtaining the required speed and accuracy. But the more I work with it the stronger my fingers become, which allows my practice in other areas to become more productive.

After 30 minutes of the walking exercise and a few minutes spent on sliding bar chords, regular chord changes, and the chromatic scale, I played along to an A minor blues jam track for 1 hour. I put the track on repeat, each new time around finding a nuance in note selection, vibrato, string bending, or picking style.

During this session it occurred to me that I had reached one of the tipping points in my guitar quest. One of the reasons I write in this journal is to examine how I go about learning something from the beginning. I have already made note of the 1st year struggles, and how it is important to have faith that the mind and body will discover a way to overcome the many obstacles which prevent the beginning student from playing well. My current learning phase is in the refining of basic skills, allowing for added confidence and momentum, which in turn fuels the desire to practice more. This extended practice and enthusiasm leads to a further gain in skills, which in turn fuels greater momentum. Having reached this stage, learning and progress becomes quicker and easier.

There is another interesting thing to note - the perception that one has put in hundreds of hours of practice. Thinking back on the struggle and the will to continue and push forward, the thought arises as to how many beginning guitar students have put in as much work as I have? The people who have are undoubtedly already proficient in guitar play, but I believe that my Asperger tendency to focus intensely on a subject puts me ahead of a person who believes one hour a day of practice is a lot. On the other hand, my paltry 2-3 hour sessions look pale in comparison to a virtuoso who plays 8-10 hours a day. The lesson here is that the more one plays, the better one gets - practice, practice, practice!

Sophia's Dream

Sophia's Dream, Detail

On the Road Again

This past week I have put in a couple of 2-3 hour practice sessions with the guitar. Since playing with Joseph a month ago one of the things I have been working at is sliding bar chords. Yesterday I was listening to a couple of Canned Heat blues songs (Going Up the Country and On the Road Again), and decided to learn the chords and play along. I found that Going Up the Country required a sliding bar chord going from fret 6 to 11, then down to fret 1. Normally the hardest place to play are the frets near the nut (frets 1-3), but I found placing the fingers in the cramped space of fret 11 to be challenging. To play On the Road Again I was especially satisfied when I was able to create the blues boogie pattern. I had always wanted to play that kind of rambling/rolling blues rhythm, and guessed it would take playing a combination of exotic, hard to finger chords. So I was surprised to find that it was a familiar pattern that I practice everyday - E/G/A. The tricky part is in the timing and strumming, but I quickly picked it up and was jamming along without much problem. This experience taught me that with a few simple chords many different styles of music can be created through timing variations.